Overview

Gaius Baltar is rigorously questioned about his past and what the Cylons know about Earth. Meanwhile, both Kara Thrace and Lee Adama struggle with their feelings for one another and are forced to make a decision about their respective marriages.

Summary

Teaser

The episode begins as the Fleet moves past a small planetoid. Viewers hear a lullaby being sung as the shot moves past duty lockers as people sleep, to show Gaius Baltar, in a brig on Galactica, tearing strips of fabric.

To pressure him into revealing any secrets or tactical knowledge of the Cylons, Baltar has been forced to stay awake. In turn, the prisoner has gone on a hunger strike, and believes that the Fleet's leadership will eventually kill him outright, rather than give him a fair trial.

Baltar's virtual Number Six appears to question his actions, but only briefly. She soon begins to "aid" him in his task; he ties the fabric strips to form a hangman's noose.

Elsewhere, Lieutenant Felix Gaeta cannot sleep. He dresses and heads for the brig. A Marine on guard stops his advance.

The virtual Six "pushes" Baltar's cot, and the man begins to choke on his noose. Six tells him to take slow, deep breaths.

Baltar appears to awake in a Cylon rebirthing tank, surrounded by three Six copies. He shouts in celebration, believing that, at least, he knows his true nature as a Cylon.

The Sixes' gentle touches suddenly become harsh scratches and lacerations. One of them tells Baltar that he is not, in fact, a Cylon, but a human about to die. All three push Baltar into the tank's gelatinous mixture. One Six enters the pool, lying above him and kisses him as he is held to drown.

Baltar's mind was likely suffering from oxygen deprivation, as his Marine guard cuts him down and successfully resuscitates him. Gaeta leaves to find Dr. Cottle.

Act 1

Admiral Adama, Saul Tigh, Dr. Cottle, and President Roslin sit in Adama's quarters, discussing what to do to get information from Baltar. Acknowledging that his hunger strike and suicide attempt have soured his mood, Roslin suggests an alternative plan.

When Lieutenant Gaeta is asked why he was at Baltar's cell so early in the morning, he tells the president that he couldn't sleep and wanted to speak with the former president.

Elsewhere, Lee Adama treats his friend Galen Tyrol to a little surprise: A number of crew have created a bar, probably on the starboard hangar deck, complete with a Pyramid arcade game, an old Viper Mark II hanging above for atmosphere. "Joe's bar" is filled with many people who have managed to put aside the troubles of the day. Tyrol and Adama have a drink as they discuss their marital problems; Tyrol and his wife Cally have had an argument that has apparently left him "in the doghouse". Adama is reluctant to interact with his wife, Anastasia Dualla, as he continues to fight with his angst over his love of Kara Thrace.

Major Adama returns to his quarters, quite drunk, to find Dualla still awake and doing some work, drinking something from a wine glass. She tries to confirm if they are still going to have dinner later that day as Adama dozes off, leaving Dualla disappointed.

A similar conversation is occurring at Kara Thrace's bunk, as Samuel Anders and Thrace are clothing themselves after sleeping together. Thrace darkly pokes fun at herself, calling herself a "two-timing bitch" of a spouse. Anders asks if she is in love with Lee Adama.

When Thrace hesitates to answer, Anders tells her to explore what she feels, believing that Thrace's alleged destiny and her feelings about Anders may still be significant. The former resistance fighter leaves Thrace to herself in her bunk.

Baltar is standing in his cell when President Roslin appears. Mirroring Baltar's visit with Roslin on New Caprica a few months earlier, while she was detained by the Cylons, Roslin hands him his glasses. Baltar, recognizing the reference, takes his glasses from her, but we don't see the glasses again.

Baltar equivocates at first, then stands his ground about his involvement, calling Roslin's accusations a "rehash" of the same "lies" she told prior to the presidential election.

Roslin shakes her head, and escalates her questioning. She shows Baltar a series of pictures of the dead on New Caprica who were killed by Cylons for supposed insurrection. Uncharacteristically, Roslin's voice rises to a shrill pitch, and she screams at Baltar as she flings each of the pictures at him. She then calls for Saul Tigh to have Baltar taken from his cell and carried to the airlock.

Baltar shouts his innocence as the Marines move him through the memorial hallway and Roslin tries to haunt the former president with faces of the Colonies' dead. Baltar stops his "executioners" to show one photo of a man he knew. Although Baltar insists that he would not do anything to harm his friend, his wife, and his own godchild, the Marines cart the scientist away.

Act 2

The Fleet's leadership convene once more. Roslin's plan failed; Baltar called the bluff about being thrown in an airlock, and the Marines have returned him to his cell.

When Roslin suggests a different, less aggressive approach, Admiral Adama mentions a special hallucinogenic drug used experimentally by the Colonial military. Roslin's expression is a mixture of awe and surprise, but asks if Galactica has this drug on board.

Lee Adama and Dualla have an argument about Kara Thrace and the future of their marriage. Dualla says that she married Adama because she loved him, choosing to have him for as long as he or Kara Thrace would let him. She resigns herself to her marriage's failure and tells Adama that she will not stand in his way if he were to choose Thrace over her.

Kara Thrace and Lee Adama meet privately. When Thrace asks Adama if he loves her and would be with her if she were to leave Anders, Adama equivocates, remembering Thrace's fickleness after he declared his love a year before. Thrace leaves him to think about the situation, telling him as she goes that thinking is what he does best.

Major Adama returns to the bar and drinks more, toying with his wedding band. He asks Chief Tyrol if he ever thinks about what his future with Boomer would have been like, or has any regrets. With a quick drink, Tyrol replies in the negative.

Major Adama stumbles back to his quarters, losing his wedding band somewhere in Galactica's corridors and apparently failing when he drunkenly attempts to find it.

Baltar is strapped down in sickbay as Roslin authorizes the administration of the interrogation drug to Baltar. Baltar accuses her of seeking her own satisfaction instead of justice. Adama warns her, Dr. Cottle and medic Layne Ishay not to make any loud noises and orders additional restraints on the prisoner's head.

Act 3

Baltar finds himself floating in a nondescript dark body of water, with only a dim light shining from above.

Adama and Roslin talk to Baltar in his hallucinogenic haze, asking him questions about the Cylons' knowledge of the whereabouts of Earth, and his mission at the Temple of Five.

Baltar, genuinely believing that his life is in peril, tells them that he believed that he could be one of the Final Five Cylons and was seeking an answer from the Eye of Jupiter in the temple. If he was one of the Five, he would no longer be a traitor to humanity. Roslin asks him if he is one of the Five, and he truthfully tells her that he is not.

The medic accidentally knocks over some equipment, creating a loud clang, which interrupts Baltar's interrogation momentarily.

Adama warns Baltar to cooperate so that he will be able to "get out", then turns off the flashlight he was using to create the lighting effect in Baltar's illusory world.

Baltar begins to talk about Caprica-Six and her involvement, as a vision of Six appears and disappears next to him in the water.

Baltar's vision shifts and he once again sees himself in a Cylon rebirthing tank, this time, however, he is surrounded by dark figures that are later revealed as the Colonial dead from the Colonies. As he tries to explain himself, the figures push him into the water, and a young girl hovers over him as he continues the dark descent.

As Baltar sinks in his vision, in the real world, Baltar's vital signs begin to drop as well. Dr. Cottle calls off further interrogation and proceeds to revive Baltar.

Act 4

Roslin, Adama, and Tigh discuss the failure of the interrogation in Adama's quarters. Roslin thinks that the Final Five Cylons may be connected to the five priests of the Temple of Five, which Tigh dismisses as superstititious mumbo jumbo. The three of them know that Baltar fears being executed even if he talks.

A final attempt to gain information from Baltar uses Lieutenant Gaeta to lure Baltar into a sense of comfort by aiding the Colonial officer in his calculations to Earth, hoping that he will leak any information on Cylon tactics or technology.

Initially, Baltar acquiesces and begins to correct Gaeta's work until he senses Gaeta's awareness of something else in the cell.

Baltar realizes that his cell has a surveillance camera, and becomes belligerent, which begins to anger Gaeta.

Realizing that Gaeta's anger could make things much worse, the Fleet leadership leaves their observation room to interdict Gaeta.

Meanwhile, Baltar whispers something to Gaeta (See podcast information) who then uses the pen he brought into the room to stab Baltar in the neck. Baltar's whispered statement is not revealed until The Face of the Enemy webisode 10; he tells Gaeta, "I know what your Eight did."

Adama manages to subdue Gaeta, and Cottle looks over Baltar, whose injuries are not serious. His inner Six remarks that while he's not one of the Five, he certainly has the luck of the gods.

Meanwhile, Lee Adama and his wife meet in Joe's Bar.

Adama, having since found his lost wedding ring, confesses that he has loved Dualla and how dedicated she has been to him, never realizing how much he needed her affection.

As the two embrace, Adama tries to avoid looking across the bar at Kara Thrace and Anders. Thrace returns the glance before Adama breaks it off.

Laura Roslin and Admiral Adama rest in the admiral's quarters, with Roslin reclining on a bunk and Adama sitting at the foot of the bunk. Roslin admits that she wanted a genuine admission of guilt from Baltar, and Adama tells her that she'll never get that because Baltar sees himself as the victim. They debate, with the failure of both measures of interrogation on Baltar, what to do with him.

When Adama suggests that there is still an opportunity to make Baltar "disappear," Roslin touches Adama's arm tenderly but briefly, reminding him of his humanity as she responds that they couldn't do that to him.

Roslin suggests that one option is still on the table: Give Baltar a trial.

Bonus Scene

Part of a bonus scene was shown after the original airing of this episode on SciFi Channel and the full scene was made available on SciFi's website and the Season 3 DVD.

Roslin talks with Caprica-Six after overseeing her transfer to a cell on Galactica, saying that all the Colonials have surmised so far is that Baltar was not involved in the initial Cylon attack. Six tells Roslin she "did what you asked. Confirmed your suspicions. Even let you chop me up for theatrical effect." The meaning of this last is unclear as there is no scene in the main episode in which Caprica-Six appears, let alone is "chopped up" and Six appears uninjured in this scene.

Roslin tries to gain information by promising Six that she won't be executed, but Six counters that Roslin made the same promise to Leoben and broke it (Flesh and Bone).

Roslin asks for Six's name and is given it ("Caprica"), and says that she recognizes the authenticity of Caprica-Six's feelings for Baltar.

Caprica-Six wonders if the Colonials' justice system has withered away along with their conscience and adamantly states that she will not reveal any information unless she is assured that Baltar will receive a fair trial. If he does, she will be willing to be the primary witness and share all the information that Roslin wants to know.

Notes

With 30 characters, this episode has the longest title of any Re-imagined Series episode to date.

The title is a partial quote from "Where Everybody Knows Your Name," the theme song to the television program Cheers written by Gary Portnoy & Judy Hart Angelo. — "Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got./Taking a break from all your worries, sure would help a lot."

The songs heard as background music in the bar are original compositions. One is titled "Lord Knows I Would", composed and performed by Raya Yarbrough - who is the voice of most vocals on the BSG soundtrack - and available on one of her albums. "All That Remains" is also performed by her, but composed by Bear McCreary and is part of his Rest Stop soundtrack.

The secret experiments with hallucinogenic drugs for purposes of interrogation parallels the CIA's MK ULTRA program from the 1960s and 1970s. In that program, LSD was investigated as a possible "truth serum".

The episode was originally meant to be far lighter in tone and revolve mainly around Joe's bar, showing how people build it and fight to keep it. This explains the somewhat paradoxical episode title, given the dark tone it ultimately took. The change in tone came about because Jamie Bamber felt that the script didn't deal enough and too lightly with Lee Adama's deteriorating relationship to Dualla. Moreover, Baltar's storyline started as a B-plot and became the focus of the episode (Battlestar Galactica: The Official Companion Season Three).

Analysis

At the beginning of the episode, Baltar "improvises" the line "If I should die before I wake."; a line from an 18th century children's prayer. In light of later developments concerning particular parallels between Colonial and contemporary popular culture, this may signify a deeper connection between the Colonials and Earth.

Baltar, despite extreme stress, various forms of torture, and attempted suicide, maintains a high degree of self-preservation. Even at moments when it appears he is about to confess all of his wrongs, knowing that his life might be in danger, he finds a way to circumvent the questions and redirect them to someone or something else that makes him look to be the victim - this is classic behavior of a narcissist.

Adama, during the interrogation session, seems to know more about the capabilities of the hallucinogen than it initially appears when he mentions the drug to Roslin. He appears to have done this type of interrogation before.

The episode draws connections between Baltar and Roslin and their respective roles, especially in how both have now switched places. Roslin almost word for word quotes Baltar when it comes down to the best interrogation method: using a stick versus a carrot. The same type of analogy Baltar used with Admiral Cain in "Pegasus". Moreover there is a clear callback to Baltar visiting Roslin in her cell and handing her her glasses during the occupation of New Caprica.

This episode displays the darker side of Adama as throughout the episode he is consistently the one to display a bitter streak towards Baltar. He cites many different options and choices that one would consider to be contradictory to his own stances of how humans were to treat each other before. For example, he directly opposed President Zarek when it became known that people were "disappearing" without given a trial (Collaborators). Yet, with Baltar, Adama suggests to Roslin that it is not too late to make him disappear.

The hallucinogen appears to affect how an individual's brain interprets sound. Adama ordered that complete silence be kept as he and Roslin are the only ones allowed to speak to Baltar. However, once Layne Ishay is startled by Baltar's screams, she accidentally knocks over some equipment. The clanging and noise caused the hallucinated water to become turmoil and reach the brink of drowning Baltar.

A substantial amount of time seems to have passed between "Rapture" and this episode as Kara Thrace's hands have recovered from the burns she received on the algae planet. Baltar's appearance has also more facial hair than he had when he was captured inside the Temple of Five.

Roslin probably connects Caprica-Six's name to Baltar saying it during his interrogation, thus deepening her belief that he is guilty.

Judging by the reaction of the patrons, the liquor being served is most likely recently manufactured moonshine of dubious quality. Whatever passes for "the good stuff" in the bar is likely whatever hasn't been appropriated by high ranking personnel and may have been made on New Caprica.

In "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I", Lee Adama promises the pilots to build them a bar should a habitable planet be found. However, given the time that has passed, this is probably unrelated to Joe's bar.

Adama speaks of "drugs" in the plural. If the interrogation drug used is actually a mix of readily available drugs, this explains why Galactica has an apparently secret and experimental drug aboard.

Official Statements

This was my first time working with Edward J. Olmos (“Eddy” to his buds) as a director, and I found it a really remarkable experience. Eddie (that’s right, I’m now a “bud,” or so I like to think) often works from a very instinctual basis. Sometimes the images he conjured in his mind seemed at odd with the script and frightened me a bit, but I would quickly see how he was just taking a scene into a deeper and murkier psychological territory.[1]

The bar was originally called the "Why not?" in early drafts of the script[2].

The extra in the first bar scene in a wheelchair was a visitor (and a huge fan) on the set who the cast and crew took a liking to and adopted into the show for the couple of days that he was there[3].

There was a larger subplot for Layne Ishay in which she can't stand Baltar being tortured anymore and leaks his presence and treatment to the Fleet[4]. A remnant of this is present in her knocking over the instrument tray.

There were discussions about a subplot that involved Baltar being guilty of an incident before the Cylon occupation in which many, already discriminated, Saggitarons were killed. Ron Moore relates that Baltar threatens to implicate Gaeta, who had nothing to do with the incident, in that (the scene where Baltar whispers something inaudible in Gaeta's ear) and that this is what makes Gaeta snap and stab Baltar.[5][6]

Moore also mentioned that Gaeta still has "issues" that relate to his time working with Baltar and how the Fleet at first views him as a collaborator because of that relation. Now that Baltar is back, Gaeta has a difficult time accepting that, which later turns into rage during the interrogation.

Noteworthy Dialogue

Tyrol: Didn't you hear us? We figured we could've sold tickets. (pause) To marriage. Why we build bars.

Roslin interrogating Baltar:

Roslin: Just wondered if you recognized even one of these faces? Did any image get through to you on the rare occasion when you ventured out from behind your sandbags and your razor wires to see what was happening to your people?! YOUR PEOPLE! I need to know. NOW!

Starbuck responding to Anders:

Starbuck: Kara Thrace and her special destiny? Sounds more like a bad cover band, Sam.

"She... Caprica-Six... she chose me. Chose me over all men. Chosen to be seduced, taken by the hand. Guided between the light and the dark. But is she an angel, or is she a demon? Is she imaginary, or is she real? Is she my own voice, or the voice..."